Fringe 2009: Love and Human Extinction

It’s easy to laugh at tragedy. Not due to callousness, of course, but because humour is one of the few ways humans can rationalize absurdity. Without Jon Stewart, for example, following politics would be entirely soul crushing.

Perhaps it’s unsurprising then that when watching local writer/poet Shaista Justin’s latest one-act tragicomedy for the Toronto Fringe Festival, you end up giggling more than grimacing, witnessing an awkward drama set at the brink of the world.

Aptly titled ‘Love and Human Extinction’, Justin’s tale picks up the story several years into the end times. Only three human beings remain following a mysterious and global culling of life, including all animals sea and sky. The trio, played with conviction by Jennifer Neales, Matthew Manhire and Damien Gulde, spend most of the play coping internally and as a group with their shared dystopian fates.

Neales plays the fragile Roberta, the lone woman on earth and, as such, the most popular person on the planet. Vying for her affection are Andy and Elliott, played by Manhire and Gulde respectively. Different as night and day, Andy clings to his belief that God has a reason for everything, while Elliott roots through what’s left of the world he knew, piecing together the past and gathering clues to figure out what happened.

Although the details of the extinction are mentioned vaguely during soliloquies and expository conversations, none of the characters actually know what happened and, more importantly, why it didn’t happen to them.

Indeed, despite the context of an entire world in ruin, Justin and director Saniya Ansari delve into three internal struggles to comment on the dysfunction of society, portraying the final people alive as too self-absorbed to even cohabit the same room.

"People are tired of being talked at -- they want interesting conundrums to think about," explains Justin in a release. "In my play, the worst has already happened, the debate about what could happen is over … I wanted to write about the actual consequences of our negligent behaviour towards the earth and each other.”

There’s no football-in-groin humour here, but witty dialogue and the surrealism of the entire premise provide ample comedic opportunities, both ironic and intentional.

Part ‘Lord of the Flies’ mixed with a pinch of ‘Reality Bites’, the tiny ensemble cast entertain and enlighten in a tidy 40 minutes, waxing philosophical with enough gusto that you don’t notice the modest set nor care that Andy’s shotgun is a yellow super soaker.

‘Love and Human Extinction’ is fun and definitely worth checking out amongst a bumper crop of acts in this year’s Fringe. The play will have a six show run through to Saturday, July 11. All shows will appear at the Royal St. George Theatre (120 Howland St., Bathurst & Bloor). Tickets ($10) can be found at www.fringetoronto.com or purchased at the door.

For more information go to www.loveandhumanextinction.com